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Portrait Posing Resources

Dear APers,

I've recently done a shoot for my sister's roller derby team and it has highlighted that I know next to nothing about posing people (thankfully, there were props to play with and this allowed me to get some fun shots along with my typical natural style of photography). Upon seeing the photos, one of the ladies commented on how it made her "realise how fat she'd become". I want my photography to make people feel good about themselves and not to come away thinking they need to change the way they look. Now, I realise that there will always be people who will never be satisfied with how they appear and thusly, this desire for people to celebrate how they appear in their own skin will never be 100% fulfilled, BUT I'd like still give it the best try I can. I get the photography basics of exposure, depth of field, focussing, etc and my understanding of light conditions and composition is improving, but now I feel I need to better grasp the art of flattering posing. I feel if I can achieve a solid understanding of that, coupled with great lighting, I should be able to get people coming away feeling happy with their appearance.

Also, if you have an iPhone or iPad, you can download a cheap ($2.99c) Posing App that you can take with you and show people how you want them to stand/sit, etc. It also gives you some great ideas for poses that can be used for kids, men, women and groups.

Hi Erin
go to Creative Live and look at anything posted by Sue Bryce......she is the master of posing! You can watch the videos free live or can buy them to download and watch whenever over and over... I've got 28 days with Sue Bryce and it is a huge resource of posing information with examples among many other things....it's awesome.

I have recently found the wonders of pintrest, you can either use via internet or download the app. I search for poses that way. e.g. three family poses, sibling poses, graduation poses. I've found it very valuable as a starting point. you can also save your favourite by 'pinning' them, so you can grab the phone and refresh your memory mid-shoot.